Chiaki Minami
Basic Facts Name: Chiaki Minami (南 千秋, Minami Chiaki) Age: 10-11 Voiced by: Minori Chihara First introduced (manga): Chapter 000 First introduced (anime): Minami-ke Episode 01 Chiaki is the youngest Minami sister. As the third sister, she continues the naming pattern by having autumn ("aki" or 秋) in her name. She is an elementary student in class 5-2 (a reference to Kyou no Gono Ni). She is implied to be an excellent student, and is often seen reading one or another thick textbook. Despite her presumably high intelligence, her young age and lack of experience often lead her to overanalyze simple things. She also continues a proud family tradition by often misapplying logic to reach conclusions that lack common sense, such as deciding to drink water to improve her swimming ability.Minami-ke: Okaeri Episode 05#Segment Two or Minami-ke Chapter 110 Her personality is a mixture of snide cynicism beyond her years and childish naivete. Her catchphrase is to call people (especially Kana and Makoto) "bakayarou" (literally, "stupid idiot"). Her childishness is apparent in her dislike of carrots, peppers, scallions, and other such vegetables--though in the case of carrots, this may have changed.Minami-ke: Betsubara or Minami-ke Chapter 118 In addition, she is incapable of swimming or dealing with the water, despite repeated attempts to deal with this. She is also ignorant of strange things. She receives a stuffed bear which she christens "Fujioka" (not to be confused with Fujioka).Minami-ke Episode 12 She often uses the bear to hide things, or as a missile, usually against Kana. Her nickname, especially among classmates, is "hime" (princess).Minami-ke Episode 02 Character Design Chiaki is roughly the average height of everyone else in her age class, which means shorter than the males, but the same height as Uchida and Yoshino. Her eyes are hazel in the anime, the same as her sisters, but in the manga covers, they eventually turn red. Her hair, which she wears long and down, varies from dark blond, to blond which tapers into black highlights, to dirty blond over the three seasons. In the manga, it progresses from dark blond to blond. On her head is a notable bulky leaf-shaped ahoge. In Okawari, this ahoge can twitch spontaneously, usually as an expression of Chiaki's emotions when she is otherwise passive. It once temporarily divides in two in episode nine of that season. In chest size, she is consistently the flattest of any of her peers.Minami-ke: Okawari Episode 03 Interactions with Others School Life The bratty undisputed ruler of her domain, the entirety of class 5-2 bends to her will, a power which she, however, exercises only infrequently. The exception is Makoto, who she torments and commands on a constant basis. In Minami-ke Episode 02, she gives herself the nickname "hime," or princess. This nickname sticks due to its sheer accuracy, but it is one she immediately hates, despite her having coined it herself. She spends most of her time in the company of Uchida and Yoshino, and also with Touma from the neighboring class 5-1, who by Okaeri is close enough to be called a best friend. She has only minor interactions with Shuuichi. Her interactions with the school nurse, Kumada, are also a source of amusement. Surrogate Family Creation It is strongly implied that the Minami parents are dead.Minami-ke Episode 03 Though this issue is never explicitly addressed or dealt with, Chiaki greatly feels the lack of a traditional family and, in a manner typical of her unusual thinking, has set out to create a set of surrogates to fill the gap. It is clear that she sees Haruka as a surrogate mother, and she explicitly seeks out and designates Touma as her little brother, nevermind Touma's female gender.Minami-ke Episode 10 Further, after Haruka's careless comment that Fujioka "carried the same air" as their fatherMinami-ke Episode 03, Chiaki has treated him as a surrogate father, sitting in his lap whenever the oppurtunity presents. It is repeatedly implied, especially in Okawari, that these designations carry real meaning to Chiaki, and are not just a game. With her Sisters Outwardly, Chiaki views Kana as an unredeemable idiot, and tolerates her idiocy with an air of resignation. On one occasion, she even refers to Kana as akin to a pet, which you must treat well but discipline and restrain if necessary.Minami-ke: Okawari Episode 02 Chiaki punches, throws stuffed bears at, and otherwise physically abuses her sister on a regular basis, as punishment for her foolish acts. This is the basis for a tsukkomi which is repeated over and over throughout the series. It is not the case, however, that Kana is helpless. Kana expertly manipulates Chiaki and is capable of winning her share of the incessant battles between them. However, Chiaki's avowed attitude toward Kana is not the whole story. Chiaki occasionally shows affection towards Kana and seems to think of her as more of misguided sister to be drawn to the correct path than as the irredeemable idiot she publicly treats her as. They share moments of sisterly affection, including very memorable scenes in the last episode of Okaeri—Chiaki clings to Kana because she had a dream Kana disappeared, and later on expresses great emotion when a seeming suicide note from Kana is discovered—and there are signs that the seemingly hostile banter between them is just that: banter, and almost a ritual. Chiaki occasionally makes efforts to aid Kana and Kana does her part as well—though often in a hilariously misguided way. They are sisters, after all. Chiaki's relationship with Haruka is more straightforward. Instead of being acrid and domineering, she behaves towards Haruka with limitless and conspicuous affection, even going so far as to always refer to her as "Haruka-nee-sama". In addition to thinking of Haruka as a surrogate mother figure, she goes to great lengths to protect or impress Haruka, and it is possible that her devotion to schoolwork is a part of this. Because of this, Kana is capable of using Chiaki's unconditional devotion to Haruka as an entry-point for a large proportion of her mechanations. Speculated Pairings As mentioned above, Chiaki views Fujioka as a father-figure and sits in his lap at every opportunity. However, certain eventsMinami-ke: Okaeri Episode 10, especially, have led parts of the fanbase to suggest that her feelings extend beyond merely affection. For instance, she expresses jealousy when Touma interacts with Fujioka.Minami-ke: Okaeri Episode 10 However, it is more likely that this is simple possessiveness. After all, besides some initial confusion, she generally takes steps to further the relationship between Kana and FujiokaMinami-ke: Okawari Episode 11, for instance, the only canon pairing in the series, which would hardly be consistent. In fact, precisely because Kana and Fujioka are the canon pairing which is obvious to everyone but the two of them, it is unlikely that anyone would knowingly attempt to interfere with it. It is most likely that the jealousy Chiaki expresses is a simple combination of affection and a refusal to allow anyone else to sit on Fujioka's lap. Another popular pairing is with Makoto. Early in the first season, her domineering control of him, and their dominant-submissive dynamic sparked speculation of some sort of feelings between them. Though various scenes kept this barely alive, after he obtained a crush on Haruka and started to cross-dress as Mako-chan, such a relationship seemed highly unlikely. However, the events of Okaeri episode seven gave it new life, strongly implying that, at the very least, Makoto is smitten with Chiaki. Another pairing is with Touma, due to their extremely close relationship and the fact that Chiaki ostensibly treats her as male. There is little evidence beyond this. Note, however, that Fujioka very likely believes that something is going on, due to what he has witnessedMinami-ke: Okaeri Episode 10, for instance and his ignorance of Touma's true gender. A final pairing is that with Fuyuki. During the second season, Chiaki shows signficant concern for his welfare, trying to reform him into someone who can "say no." She is also significantly affected when he moves awayMinami-ke: Okawari Episode 12, and when he sends a postcard.Minami-ke: Okawari Episode 13 However, due to Fuyuki's extreme unpopularity, this pairing is detested and while some argue for its existence, no one can be found who actually supports it. Notable Scenes Since Chiaki is a main character, she has countless scenes of varying levels of notoriety. As such, the list below is incomplete, and should be added to: In season one, episode one, Chiaki successfully convinces Kana that Fujioka's letter of confession is, in fact, a challenge to a fight, thereby paralyzing his and Kana's relationship, possibly permanently. In episode eleven, she anthromorphizes a rock, naming it Yamada and kicking it all the way home. She mourns Yamada when Kana's accidental intervention causes it to be lost forever. In Okawari episode eight, she is rescued from "drowning" by Fujioka, in a scene which becomes known as the "Princess Cradle". In Okaeri episode two, she acquires a hidden angel and demon side. In the same episode, she sings the Curry Song after Hosaka does so. In episode five, she decides she can increase her swimming prowess by increasing her bodily percentage of water, with humorous results. Notes Category:Character Category:Minami-ke Character